“At this last hour, monseigneur, be a good and valiant soldier of God, and remember the passion of Jesus Christ which wrought our redemption. Farewell, we hope soon to meet in Paradise! The stool was cast down, and the Sire de Retz dropped. The fire roared up, the flames leaped about him, and enveloped him as be swung. Suddenly, mingling with the deep booming of the cathedral bell, swelled up the wild unearthly wail of the _Dies iræ_. No sound among the crowd, only the growl of the fire, and the solemn strain of the hymn Lo, the Book, exactly worded, Wherein all hath been recorded; Thence shall judgment be awarded. When the Judge his seat attaineth, And each hidden deed arraigneth, Nothing unavenged remaineth. What shall I, frail man, be pleading? Who for me be interceding? When the just are mercy needing. King of Majesty tremendous, Who dost free salvation send us, Fount of pity! then befriend us. * * * * Low I kneel, with heart-submission; See, like ashes, my contrition— Help me in my last condition! Ah I that day of tears and mourning! From the dust of earth returning, Man for judgment must prepare him! Spare, O, God, in mercy spare him! Lord, who didst our souls redeem, Grant a blessed requiem! AMEN. Six women, veiled, and robed in white, and six Carmelites advanced. bearing a coffin. It was whispered that one of the veiled women was Madame de Retz, and that the others were members of the most illustrious houses of Brittany. The cord by which the marshal was hung was cut, and he fell into a cradle of iron prepared to receive the corpse. The body was removed before the fire had gained any mastery over it. It was placed in the coffin., and the monks and the women transported it to the Carmelite monastery of Nantes, according to the wishes of the deceased. In the meantime, the sentence had been executed upon Pontou and Henriet; they were hung and burned to dust. Their ashes were cast to the winds; whilst in the Carmelite church of Our Lady were celebrated with pomp the obsequies of the very high, very powerful, very illustrious Seigneur Gilles de Laval, Sire de Retz, late Chamberlain of King Charles VII., and Marshal of France! CHAPTER XIV. A GALICIAN WERE-WOLF. The Inhabitants of Austrian Galicia—The Hamlet of Polomyja—Summer Evening in the Forest—The Beggar Swiatek—A Girl disappears—A School-boy vanishes—A Servant-girl lost—Another Boy carried of—The Discovery made by the Publican of Polomyja—Swiatek locked up—Brought to Dabkow—Commits suicide. The inhabitants of Austrian Galicia are quiet, inoffensive people, take them as a whole. The Jews, who number a twelfth of the population, are the most intelligent, energetic, and certainly the most money-making individuals in the province, though the Poles proper, or Mazurs, are not devoid of natural parts.